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2018 - The Farm

Well, I've been gone a few years from the board, and away from growing peppers, but looks like life is pushing me back that way again. 
 
I recently (last month) closed on a 25 acre farm in Central Illinois with some primo soil, and I'm going to give a commercial grow a test run. 
 
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From up on the roof, when I was doing some roof repairs on the outbuildings. Not much as far as the eye can see, but cornfields...
 
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Has a 4 stall garage and a horse stable on the property
 
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Probably do my grow room upstairs here after I insulate it
 
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Built some doors for the horse barn and patched the roof last month
 
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Anyway just dropped a cold grand on seeds from pepperlover and buckeye, going to hit a greenhouse supplier up for other materials next week.
 
Have plans to build a 30x72' greenhouse in the spring, and a ~1200 sq foot dedicated grow room. Too late really to help with this year's grow, but next year it'll save me a lot of hassle on hardening off. 
 
The greenhouse, I am going to do a piped infloor heat slab, with a horizontal loop geothermal system (I own a mini excavator) that is solar powered. So heating should be nice, uniform, not create heat / cold bubbles, and not dry out plants like forced air would. I build circuit boards in my day job, so I will also build a microcontroller to handle the automated watering system with soil moisture monitors and actuated plumbing valves on the water supply.
 
Also plan on building a "deep winter" greenhouse for year round production. Got blueprints I made from a couple of years back, those are walled on three sides with heavy duty insulation, with the glass wall side angled to face winter solstice, so you can grow in the deep freeze months of the north. In the summer, those get hot enough to use as a natural dehydrator, replace the tables with racks for bulk drying.
 
Only doing a half acre or so of peppers to start with this year, the balance will be put in corn. I can't manage more than that with the labor I have available. (When you start talking thousands of plants, simple tasks like up-potting grow in to hundreds or thousands of man hours...)
 
Going to hire some local kids to help, school has a good ag co-op program for high schoolers, they can get school credit working on local farms. Since the plant out and harvest doesn't conflict too badly with corn, shouldn't have a problem finding labor around here.
 
Anyway, that's the plans.
 
We'll see how it goes.. er.. grows.
 
 
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Also my passive hydro pots are now at node 3 as well. The others are just now starting their 2nd node. That's how much ahead those passive hydro plants have got in 9 days!
 
 
TrentL said:
 
Yeah I'll need to track down where to get the stuff in bulk, if I end up calling this a first year a hydro grow. I have enough stuff on hand to get me by for a month or so until then. But the rate of utilization is gonna go WAY up as these guys get more plentiful, and much bigger. Some of my tomato plants are starting to push 5" tall at this point and are on their 4th nodes. 
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http://www.yara.us/
 
Yara hydroponic stuff is what the big boys use in those huge greenhouses.
 
Also I can't remember if I logged it here earlier. 
 
All potted plants, except the hydro benchmark, got 2.25 oz of fish emulsion at 1tblspn/gal ratio tonight.
 
Trays 7-8-9-10 and 25 and 28 (aji cerezas) got .5 oz of fish emulsion. Those trays were all previously treated with myco so should be able to process the fish emulsion.
 
And I FRIGGING HATE the smell of that. Oh my god every time I crack that 5 gallon bucket of fish emulsion open my stomach twists in knots. 

That stuff is downright RANK. 
 
UGH.
 
 
This is the stuff the company that screwed up my CalMag order sent me samples of;
 
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Dlawngarden&field-keywords=suite+leaf
 
Suite Leaf.
 
They gave me their grow, bloom, and 'headmasta' stuff. (Clearly, they are targeting marijuana growers with their lineup, and probably assumed that's what I was growing.)
 
I will give them props, though. That stuff works FANTASTICALLY good on peppers. Wait until I post the next set of pictures. Those passive hydro pots are growing spectacular. Tomato plants don't like it as much (my organic mix is passing them up), but the peppers? Good grief. :)
 
 
 
TrentL said:
This is the stuff the company that screwed up my CalMag order sent me samples of;
 
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Dlawngarden&field-keywords=suite+leaf
 
Suite Leaf.
 
They gave me their grow, bloom, and 'headmasta' stuff. (Clearly, they are targeting marijuana growers with their lineup, and probably assumed that's what I was growing.)
 
I will give them props, though. That stuff works FANTASTICALLY good on peppers. Wait until I post the next set of pictures. Those passive hydro pots are growing spectacular. Tomato plants don't like it as much (my organic mix is passing them up), but the peppers? Good grief. :)
 
 
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I have not grown any of that green stuff myself, but it seems that anything that is good for growing those green plants is good for chili growing too, so am not really surprised.
 
 
Chilidude said:
 
I have not grown any of that green stuff myself, but it seems that anything that is good for growing those green plants is good for chili growing too, so am not really surprised.
 
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Well, quite a lot of what I learned about nutrients, deficiencies, toxicity, etc were from articles on growing pot. Never grew it myself, but it's funny how so much of it is the same. I guess there's some minor differences, when marijuana is concerned, with regards to resin oils and THC content, and how to maximize it, but the health of the plants in general is about the same.
 
I would *wager* (in fact, I'm betting on it) that there is an equally valid trick to maximizing capsaicin oil development in pepper pods, as well. I noticed this on a side by side grow of potted plants in 2014, where pods from the Shults brand potting soil were remarkably hotter than the exact same plants grown in Miracle Grow.
 
Ever since then it's been on "the list" to figure out why.  
 
Which is one reason I'm running so many different soil experiments, and will continue to do so. At some point, through blind luck, I'll stumble on some little nugget of info that'll crack that mystery wide open. (And I bet it's not sulfur, but some trace element).
 
TrentL said:
I would *wager* (in fact, I'm betting on it) that there is an equally valid trick to maximizing capsaicin oil development in pepper pods, as well.
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I could bet the calcium, sulphur and magnesium levels have something to do with the whole capsaicin oil development in pepper pods.
 
Chilidude said:
 
I could bet the calcium, sulphur and magnesium levels have something to do with the whole capsaicin oil development in pepper pods.
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Cal, mag, and sulfur all contribute to pod development and plant health. But those micronutrients.. Boron, Chlorine, Copper, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum, Zinc... those, I'm sure, play in to it.
 
Specifically, Chlorine.
 
In my research I learned that chloride is used as an atomic component in the synthetic production of capsaicin in the form of Vanillymine HCl to react with the enzyme with 8-methyl-9-nonenoyl-CoA. 
 
I believe this is also required in nature during the enzyme production as part of the fatty acid chain which eventually leads to the various forms of capsaicin. 
 
Sulfur is required (in some decent amounts) as many of the enzymes along the way have a sulfur atom in them. So if you are sulfur deficient you *will* have weak heat in your pods as it will disrupt the fatty aid chain leading to capsaicin development. But the kicker component in the final stage, I believe, requires Chloride.
 
Ergo, sulfur is important, but chloride is also required to make the reaction "happen."
 
What I'm guessing (and this is VERY much speculative) that Shults potting soil included a component washed or processed with chloridated tap water treated in an urban area and the miracle grow wasn't. Or vice versa.
 
But this is all highly speculative right now. I still have a lot of testing to do and the more important thing at the moment is not killing plants. There's time to figure the rest of the stuff out later once I accomplish that primary mission. :)
 
Are you still using the calmag with the hudro nutes or does it already have it in there?
 
Edmick said:
Are you still using the calmag with the hudro nutes or does it already have it in there?
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No I gave them calmag! That was day #2 of their pot-up, they're due for another dose of it. In fact, I noticed leaves curling up last night when I shut off the lights.
 
I need to order the "coco A" and "coco B" stuff for those - and a few other things. They are doing OK without it for now but those have the trace stuff in it.  Eventually those passive hydro pots are going to have some issues develop if I don't get them trace elements. For now, they're growing fine though. 
 
Technically I'm "doing it wrong" according to their schedule, there's like 8 different things you are supposed to feed them for a complete breakfast during vegetation period, but I only had 3 of 'em on hand. They seem to be doing fine but long term I imagine they'll come up pretty short without getting some of those trace nutrients, including sulfur, and a few other things that aren't in the stuff I'm giving them right now.
 
That's one thing I like about dyna-gro grow is that it has a bunch trace elements already in. Someone told me it has more trace elements than any other product. I haven't researched that to know if it's right or not though. As far as chemical ferts go, it's my favorite product. I'm gonna be testing Earth Juice Grow also this year. I used it last year but stopped because I needed to pull my plants out of a deficiency and organic products suck for that cuz they need to break down first. I figure I have enough trays going to run some tests so we'll see how it works out.
 
Well the organic pepper pots have fallen SO far behind the hydro at this point, that I'm going to do one more test and move on to a bottom-soaked hydro grow. I've already got all of the tables set up for it anyway, at the farm, so not a huge deal to switch. 
 
The last test is to give the transplants a "cocktail" at time of transplanting, including a small hydroponic chemical fertilizer, so there's not a 2 week lag time for organic nutrients to start to become available. Then, by the time that is wearing off, the organic soil mix SHOULD be active and breaking down available nutrients for the plants to use over the weeks that follow.
 
The soil is saturated on those Mix M plants. The tomatoes are doing FANTASTIC in it - outpacing the hydro plants. But the peppers? They're all stalled out - in fact, the seedlings remaining in the seedling trays have passed them up already by a fair margin. 
 
The difference is the tomatoes are a LOT more thirsty. Soil saturation hasn't been an issue there.
But the "try this, wait and see for a couple days" isn't working. 3 oz of cal mag, one night, and three days later the wee little pepper sprouts haven't even begun to dry out, meanwhile, the tomato plants are feather light already. So when I give them the "next thing" (fish emulsion, liquid bone meal, whatever), now I'm adding more water to the pot that still hasn't used up all of the LAST dose of whatever.
 
It's not horribly saturated, but fails the clump test, barely. Which means I'm killing off aerobic bacteria, and further stalling up the organic decomposition of the stuff I've added.
 
The passive hydro plants don't give a shit if they're soaked or stay soaked, because all of *their* nutrients are water soluble, and the coir still has the EC capacity to bind up the cations. And tha anions can just get sucked right out of the water proper. No bacteria is required to break it down first, just a proper pH balance for nutrients to be able to exchange properly.
 
SO my thought here is to avoid that, prepare a "super cocktail" of all the stuff that the coir is missing, and add it all in one 3oz dose at time of transplant. That'll keep the pots lighter and get all the amendments in that I need for healthy plants.
 
So tonight I'll test this theory out. It takes quite a long time for blood meal and other stuff to "break down" and become available - up to 8 weeks. But the liquid forms are soluble and much more available.
 
The soil mix I'll be using today is back to the 'blend' approach, knocking down those components that proved problematic to a small trace amount.
 
5:2:1 coir / perlite / worm castings
1/3 cup blood meal (for nitrogen over time)
1/3 cup seabird guano (for phosphorus)
1/4 cup azomite (for trace)
1/8 cup kelp meal (for trace - this crap "torches off" if you use too much of it)
2 tablespoons fish bone meal (for slow release phosphorous; this will raise pH slightly but should be offset by the pH lowering sulfer in worm castings, as I'm not using much of it at all)*
 
* In my earlier testing the 4:1 mix of coir to a mix which contained the equivalent of 1/2 cup bone meal per 7 gallons of media was effectively diluted to 1/8 cup bone meal per 7 gallons of media. It didn't burn roots or artificially raise pH to a point that was toxic to plants, but it wasn't ideal still. So a trace amount of fish bone meal *should* not be too big of an issue, and will give some slow release phosphorus that takes fungus weeks to break down. Especially if you consider that as the blood meal does it's thing it will draw pH back down a little over time. Mix J3 is the ONLY mix that didn't "stall out" - it's not far behind the hydro plants, so a flavor of that is what I'm going with.
 
Then the "initial cocktail" will be 3 oz of the following;
 
mycorrhizae - get the bacteria rolling
liquid bone meal (0-11-0) 50% strength, pH balanced
fish emulsion (5-1-1) 50% strength
cal mag - 100% strength
hydroponic 1-2-2 - 100% strength
 
This means in one "dose" they'll get what took 12 oz to deliver the same stuff over a week. The seedlings aren't using ANYWHERE close to 12 oz a week in water, so I've got to deliver this as a mix in one dose. 
 
That should give the myco plenty to feed on, and the soluble nitrates from the fish emulsion, the soluble phosphorous from the liquid bone meal, and the immediate CalMag availability should be everything they need for that first week after transplant.
 
Since it takes time to break down the organics, and the myco isn't immediately available, and I don't feel like adding myco and waiting 2 weeks for the soil to "rest", I'm going to dose it with 1-2-2 hydroponic fertilizer at time of transplant to give it about 1 week's worth of major nutrients.
 
By the end of that week the bacteria should be breaking down all of the organics and I shouldn't see this "stall out and do nothing for the first 9 days" that I have seen with Mix M.
 
Basically, use a very light hydroponic booster to let the organics start to do their thing.
 
And if it works, with that *tiny* little chemical fertilizer kickstarter, there won't be enough chems in them to matter over the course of their lifespan.  Just a little booster shot as an infant, as it were. I'm sure they'll be sucking enough latent pesticide and herbicide out of the ground when they hit the soil I won't be able to qualify for certified organic for a year or two anyway. (Which is why the farm is listed as "In Process to Organic" with the state; I was hedging my bets that I may have to do a hybrid approach to the grow).
 
Anyway, it seems like a good plan on paper but we'll see how it responds once we get "first contact" lol.
 
 
 
9 more trays got hooks and are now under 50% lighting
 
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Big Sun Habanero passive hydro test vs. 4 different organic mixes;
 
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*ALL* of the potted up plants are now going to be effectively "passive hydro" - every one of the peppers got chem fertilized today.  For the remainder of their lives they'll get bottom watered with hydro solutions.
 
In addition, 50% of the seedlings waiting in the wings are now joining that. The "front half" of every tray received their first dose today.  Even the trays with seedlings JUST emerging got a dose of nutrients, just to see what effect is has on the initial growth of the seedling. 
 
I took pictures of every tray so I have a starting point comparison. Will post updates in a few days on how those are progressing.
 
 
 
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